How One Downtown Street Became the Heart of Day of the Dead in Tulum

Children in costume filled Calle Centauro on Saturday night, candy bags in hand, as local merchants hosted a family-friendly trick-or-treat night during Day of the Dead in Tulum.

The candy night was the second evening of a three-night festival organized by Paseo Tulum, a committee of shop and restaurant owners on Calle Centauro in Tulum Centro. The Tulum municipal government described the evening as calm, festive, and family-centered.

What sets the weekend apart is who organized it. Business owners on a single downtown street planned the program themselves, with the stated goal of showing that Tulum's identity rests as much on its food, crafts, and traditions as on its beaches. By Saturday night, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama was sharing photos of it.

How Calle Centauro merchants built Paseo Tulum

On its public page, Paseo Tulum presents itself as a pedestrian strip of shops and restaurants on Centauro Sur, with a focus on cultural revival. The committee says it was formed by the tenants of Calle Centauro to prove that Tulum offers gastronomy, culture, crafts, and tradition alongside sun and sand.

Its slogan this weekend, painted on the decorated arch at the street entrance, was "Paseo Tulum renace con sus raíces," or "Paseo Tulum is reborn with its roots."

The committee is led by its president, identified in both committee and municipal posts as Landy AG.

Three nights of Day of the Dead in Tulum on one block

Friday belonged to the children. In a post published Saturday morning, the municipal government described a costume parade and contest on Paseo Tulum, with girls and boys as the main protagonists. Prizes came from the private sector, including Casa Tortuga, which the municipality credited for its contribution.

The municipal Culture department added a guest performance by a folk ballet company from Colombia, presented by the city as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The committee publicly thanked the director of Culture for choosing the street as the venue.

Saturday brought the candy night itself. Families and neighbors gathered in the center of town to collect sweets from participating businesses and stayed for the atmosphere on the closed street.

Candy night lands on the date Hanal Pixán gives to children

On the Yucatán Peninsula, Day of the Dead is observed as Hanal Pixán, Maya for "food of the souls." The tradition sets aside October 31 for the souls of children, November 1 for adults, and November 2 for all the faithful departed. On the children's night, families traditionally place colored candles, sweets, and toys on the altar.

That overlap gave Saturday's trick-or-treating, a custom popularized in the United States, a local echo. The sweets went to living children on the same night the Maya calendar reserves for remembering those who died young.

Street closures, civil protection, and a request to keep them

The Tulum municipal government said it backed the festival with preventive measures, including temporary street closures, traffic control, and civil protection staff to ensure the family activities were safe.

The committee welcomed the help and asked for more. In a public message thanking the city, Paseo Tulum said it hopes to continue counting on municipal support, particularly for the street-closure permits that allow it to host activities and offer families, visitors, and small business owners a shared space.

Governor Lezama's post, published late Saturday, celebrated the weekend as a joyful, traditional Day of the Dead and recognized the municipal government for joining the celebration. The committee replied with thanks and an open invitation for her to visit the street in person.

Sunday's closing program on Calle Centauro

The festival closes tonight, Sunday, November 1, at 8 p.m. on Calle Centauro. According to the program published by Paseo Tulum, the evening includes Ballet Folclórico Amaite, a Polynesian dance performance, the Colombian folk ballet as special guests, and a group billed as Chak-Mool, followed by a walk past altars set up by local businesses and a closing DJ set at Restaurante Caifán.

The altars will be the last stop of the night, on the date Hanal Pixán sets aside for the adults a community has lost.

Should more streets in downtown Tulum close for neighborhood festivals, like Paseo Tulum's Day of the Dead weekend? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.